BON VOYAGE TO MORE COULEE REGION GUESTS

Two more female guests docked last week and will leave today from downtown La Crosse's Riverside Park.  They actually spend 11 months of the year traveling via water. These gals look a bit different as they have had some reconstructive surgery in Brazil for almost 3 years for each of them.  That's a lot of plastic surgery. Actually they are reproductions of their once original selves. We still can say they have aged well.  Of all things pine tar has given them the a water resistant deep tan. Who are these ladies of the seas? I bet you remember them from your 5th grade history classes as close friends of Christopher Columbus back in 1492, they are known by the names Nina and Pinta who were used in his maiden Atlantic voyage.

Apparently the Santa Maria was too cumbersome and slow until it hit the big seas. The smallest of the fleet, the Pinta went back to Spain early so it was the Nina who finished the journey taking Columbus back home. Then, Columbus chose her as his flagship for his Second Voyage to Cuba. She even survived a hurricane and in 1496 returned to Spain with the Admiral and 120 passengers. She also made a Third Voyage and logged in 25,000 miles. 

In the 80's interested in the 15th C Caravel, an American engineer and historian, John Sarsfield along with Jonathan Nance found master craftsmen in Brazil to recreate first the Nina and 16 years later Nance designed the Pinta with Morgan Sanger. 

The vessels were much smaller than I ever anticipated. Below are their statistics. Can you imagine sailing across the ocean on these small vessels? I didn't even want to join the throngs of visitors on board with them docked.

                                         Nina                                   Pinta

Length                               65'                                       85'

Beam                                 18'                                       24'

Displacement                    80 tons                               101 tons

These sea worthy vessels didn't just depend on the wind in their sails but also a lot of men to keep them going.  Nina needed 26, (today 7) and from 26 to 9 for Pinta. They are now powered with diesel engines which decreases the need for so many men.The crew in days of yore were convicts from the Mediterranean but today hail from all over the States and are always looking for crew in case you are interested. 

Friend Cari added this: "My brother and I were one of the last to be onboard. They departed at 5:00am. With five new crew members. They have logged a have million miles already. Jeff from Orlando who is the cook on the pinta o has been with the changing crew for 15,000 of those miles. 4 months on and 2 days off over and over.to go home. He loves it. The crew does get one day off each week when they are docked. There is no shower on board so they share one hotel room to do that. It sounds like fun and I thought of you  when listening to the tour guide. One gal from MPS travels around the upper Mississippi with them. She was leaving this morning and an excited young man from Hudson, WI just started yesterday."

    Bon Voyage Ladies! 

General Admission:  $8.00 for adults, $7.00 for seniors (age 60+), $6.00 age 5-16 (not in a school group), age 4 and under are free Group & School Tours:  minimum of 15 people, $5 per person
Hours: 9am to 6pm except Nov-Dec 9am to 5pm
For information and School Group Bookings, call (787) 672-2152

Future stops early August: Clinton, IA then Davenport, IA